Flashback Episode — Communicating in Silence: Luke 1:57-80

As I read the opening of Jesus’ story from the gospel of Luke, I am amazed at a number of things he includes. In this episode’s passage specifically, several key parts stood out as I read it in preparation for this episode.

This passage is one of the few that come before Jesus was alive, and it focuses in on Jesus’ relatives and the birth of John the Baptizer. As the passage opens, John has just turned eight days old, and he is taken to be circumcised and named. Let’s read what happened. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 1, and we will read from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 59, Luke tells us that:

⁵⁹ On the eighth day, they came to have the child circumcised. They were going to name him Zechariah, like his father. ⁶⁰ But his mother spoke up. “No!” she said. “He must be called John.”

⁶¹ They said to her, “No one among your relatives has that name.”

⁶² Then they motioned to his father. They wanted to find out what he would like to name the child. ⁶³ He asked for something to write on. Then he wrote, “His name is John.” Everyone was amazed. ⁶⁴ Right away Zechariah could speak again. Right away he praised God. ⁶⁵ All his neighbors were filled with fear and wonder. Throughout Judea’s hill country, people were talking about all these things. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard this wondered about it. And because the Lord was with John, they asked, “What is this child going to be?”

Prior to this passage, some pretty miraculous things had already happened. When the angel came to Zechariah, he took the elderly priest’s voice away because Zechariah did not have faith in God’s promise.

This begins a string of extra-ordinary events that lead up to John’s birth. For somewhere between 9 and 12 months, depending on how quickly Elizabeth became pregnant, we have a mute priest, and this in itself draws attention to John the Baptizer and who he would become.

The first thing that really jumps out at me is how the relatives were pushing to name the child Zechariah, after his father. This speaks to how the relatives felt about Zechariah, and specifically that they wanted to honor him. By proposing the name Zechariah, it is like these relatives wanted to remember the father when looking at the son.

However, what happens next is also interesting. Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth spoke up and she told the relatives the name that Zechariah had shared with her. Not only is this an example of a woman speaking up for God’s plan in the Bible, it is also an example of good communication between spouses in the Bible as well – especially in a situation where communication would be a little more challenging.

Zechariah would have had to have written out what happened, and write out that the angel wanted the child’s name to be John. It may have been a very challenging time in their marriage, but coming out on the other side, after John’s birth shows us that Zechariah and his wife were united. In this event, they are among the first to have a firsthand look at God stepping back into the forefront of “His-Story”. We tend to think of wise men or shepherds being the first to know, but aside from Mary and Joseph, Zechariah and Elizabeth knew that Mary’s baby would be special even earlier.

To bring even more confirmation to John’s extra-ordinary entrance into the world, immediately after he was named by his father in writing, note the legal tone in this event, his voice was immediately restored, and the first thing he did was praise God. Zechariah lost his voice questioning God, and he praises God when his voice is restored. All this drew attention onto John the Baptizer, and what his life would become.

And this leads us to a statement in this passage that inspires me.

In the middle of verse 66, we read the phrase, “The Lord was with John”. This phrase inspires and challenges me because it prompts me to ask myself, “What would I do if I knew that God was with me?”

If I knew 100% that God was with me, would that change any of my actions or my current direction?

Because of the events that surround this phrase about God being with John, I wonder if the silence and muteness of Zechariah could be compared with how God is often times by our side.

It is not as if Zechariah could not communicate. He could — it was just through nontraditional means. Zechariah likely had to write everything out that He wanted to share with others.

In a similar way, rarely does God verbally communicate with us. Instead, there are things that He inspires people to write down, and events where we can look and see His leading and direction in. God seems to communicate more through us looking at the evidence than He does directly, verbally, and/or visually.

Everyone in Zechariah and Elizabeth’s story were forced to look at the evidence. While Zechariah received the angel’s visit and message, everyone else was forced to simply view the evidence of his muteness and let it give weight and authenticity to his story. The evidence drew attention to the event, and it makes me wonder if Zechariah had not questioned, and not been struck mute, if people would have paid more or less attention to this extra-ordinary birth.

All this is to help us understand that sometimes God chooses to communicate silently, through the evidence that we can see if we pay attention, instead of visibly and audibly stepping into view. Perhaps He knows that most people are not ready to see Him, and that is why He is more “subtle” in His methods.

As we come to the end of this podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and keep your eyes open to looking for evidence of God’s communication. He wants us to find Him, and that will only happen if we are actively looking.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn more of what God is like and how He has revealed Himself in the past.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or get distracted away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!